Hi Martin:
Thanks for posting and I appreciate the commentary you added around your profile. The information you provided is quite extensive and really helped me know more about you as a person, as well is professional. I applaud that kind of outreach to me. Nice work.
First off, what you have heard about Harvard and Stanford is simply not true. The only reason these schools care about work experience (or as an extension, what company you come from) is so that they know what they are getting, that you have logical goals based on your work experience, and that you will be able to get a job when viewed by a recruiter. However, admissions committees know that they can find the information they need to satisfy these variables by reading more about you and your background -- both professional and personal. So while working for McKinsey or Goldman Sachs is a "known quantity" for an admissions committee, it will not guarantee you would mission and it certainly will not give you an advantage over someone who articulates their case more clearly. Remember, Goldman Sachs is not applying for business school, or rather the individual applicant. so all you have to remember is to clearly articulate and explain the nature of this year. They will understand what you do, just try to explain it like you are talking to a five-year-old.
based on what I see here -- that is the professional and personal mix you possess -- I believe that you will be competitive at a top business school. Of course I cannot really narrow it down and say that you will be competitive at HBS or Stanford, because schools are very different, but what I can say is that you should be able to get into a top 10 program. Your GMAT score is higher than most of the scores I remember reviewing from applicants from Latin American countries. You should be able to get into Berkeley and Chicago without much for problem. I would look into other real estate development programs is safety schools. UCLA and UNC come to mind.
I would very much like to talk to you over the phone in the next week. If this sounds like something that you would be interested in, please e-mail me at
MBA@amerasiaconsulting.com.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti